Intracellular Pseudomonas aeruginosa persist and evade antibiotic treatment in a wound infection model.

ABSTRACT: Persistent bacterial infections evade host immunity and resist antibiotic treatments through various mechanisms that are difficult to evaluate in a living host. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a main cause of chronic infections in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) and wounds. Here, by immersing wounded zebrafish embryos in a suspension of P. aeruginosa isolates from CF patients, we established a model of persistent infection that mimics a murine chronic skin infection model. Live and electron microscopy revealed persisting aggregated P. aeruginosa inside zebrafish cells, including macrophages, at unprecedented resolution. Persistent P. aeruginosa exhibited adaptive resistance to several antibiotics, host cell permeable drugs being the most efficient. Moreover, persistent bacteria could be partl

SUBMITTER: Pont S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11825101 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature